Masks
by UniqueAsterisk
Summary: Everyone wears a mask. Superheroes are no exception.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes: So, this is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story; or it will be once I upload the next chapter. It's me toying with the idea that every member of the Team has a mask, whether we see it or not. Some are simple. Some are more complex. But they all have one. I hope you enjoy it and please review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. It belongs to DC Comics and Cartoon Network.**

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**Chapter 1: Nightwing  
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His mask was constant.

It didn't matter if they were fighting a villain or relaxing at the Cave; no one ever saw his eyes.

When he was younger it was because Batman always told him to never tell anyone what his secret identity was. It had been drilled into his mind since he had become Robin. And when he was thirteen, it was the most annoying thing in the world.

When he grew up, though, he understood.

By the time he'd become Nightwing, he'd learned the true importance of the mask. It kept the people you cared about safe. It meant your girlfriend was less likely to be abducted from her apartment in the middle of the night. It meant your friends didn't have to be afraid to open their front doors. He knew all of that. That's why he put up with the mask.

He did it to keep those he cared about safe.

Very few people had ever seen his face without the mask.

There was Batman, but that was obvious.

And Alfred, who was also obvious.

And there was Tim Drake, the new Robin, but he was pretty obvious, too.

Then there was Batgirl. Their situation was... complicated.

When he'd only known her as Barbara Gordon, Nightwing had kept his identity safely guarded. She was one of his best friends and he didn't want to ruin that. He didn't want to see her get hurt. To her, he was only ever allowed to be Dick Grayson.

Then she'd become Batgirl. That made everything unimaginably complicated for him. Trying to explain to her who he was and why he hadn't told her about everything was confusing for both of them, but knowing the secret also made things a bit easier. He didn't have to worry about her finding out unexpectedly, because she already knew. And, being Batgirl, she was already in danger.

Then there was Wally. He was the first person outside of the Bat Family that Nightwing had ever told about his secret identity. Wally was his best friend and he trusted him. That trust and that secret had shaped and kept their friendship strong. They had been like brothers. They still were.

And there was Zatanna, who waited the longest. They'd been dating for over a year and a half when he finally asked her if she could keep a secret. Even then, he'd trusted her with more than his heart. He'd trusted her with his best kept secret. She hadn't let him down. She never let anyone else know that she knew. She never let on. It was between the two of them. It made things easier. He was able to stop worrying about accidentally forgetting his sunglasses when they went out together or letting his real name slip when he told a story. He could drop the mask around her. Back then, it was almost easy.

But then they'd grown up.

Not much had changed. He'd gotten taller. He'd seen friends die. Relationships had gotten even more complicated. And through it all, the mask was still there.

Some people would always know who he was. He knew he couldn't change that. There were some things you could never take back. They would always have to keep his secret.

But they were a select few. They were trustworthy.

His family knew. His best friend knew. His girlfriend knew.

All the people he was never supposed to tell. All the people he was supposed to keep safe. All the people he cared about. They all knew.

If they had all been civilians it would have been different. _Very _different. They would've been in danger. They would've been at risk. They would've been threatened every day of their lives.

But they weren't civilians. They weren't on the outside looking in. No, they were in the heart of the battle. Fighting side by side. They were in just as much danger whether they knew who he was or not.

Telling them wouldn't kill them, so he let them know. It showed just how much he cared about them.

They were the only ones allowed to know. The only ones he let in.

To everyone else he was either a hero or a civilian, a vigilante or a regular guy. He was never both.

He knew that. He couldn't be everything to everyone. But he also knew that there were certain people who he could trust. People who were set apart from the others.

He had two sides. Two masks. You could see one or the other. They didn't mix.

Just like how you could never see both sides of a coin. It was either heads or tails. There was no in between.

But there was a razor's edge where his two masks met.

And every coin had an edge. And every now and then, every once in a million years, that was where it landed first. The people who knew both sides, the people who saw both masks were the people who saw that edge. They were the people who truly saw_ him_.

He kept them close and he kept them safe.

If he could have saved them all. If he could have kept them all out of it. If he could have just shown them one mask, he would have. But that wouldn't, _couldn't_ happen.

They knew both of his masks, both of his identities, and they always would.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Notes: Yay, I finally finished editing Chapter Two! (Well, actually this was going to be Chapter Four, but Miss Martian in season two is hard to write and, since Artemis isn't on the Team anymore, it's hard to write about her being a super hero. So, now you get a Zatanna chapter.) Oh, and there's a Doctor Who reference in this chapter, so be on the look out for that! I hope you enjoy and please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to DC Comics and Cartoon Network.**

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**Chapter 2: Zatanna**

Her mask was that of disbelief.

No one thought that the normal eighteen year old girl who lived downstairs in 2B was really a powerful magician. She knew a few card tricks. She performed them at parties to entertain everyone when the conversation slowed and people started to leave. She had no _real_ power… right?

People didn't see certain things. Obvious things. They just ignored them. They ignored her name, her face, her voice. Anything that was similar to her super hero alter ego. They ignored it all because they didn't want to admit that they might be in danger. They didn't want to risk it. People saw what they wanted to see. And they never saw her powers when she wasn't fighting the villains and saving the day.

And the power that no one thought she had was _also_ her mask.

If someone found out about her double life, she could just wipe it out of their mind. It was a simple spell.

_Tegrof ym terces ytitnedi._

_ Tegrof ohw Annataz si._

_ Tegrof tuoba ym srewop._

Any of those would do. They were simple spells. And they were painless. The spells didn't hurt anyone she used them on. They didn't destroy their minds or change their personalities. They just plucked a specific memory from their minds and destroyed it. One memory. It did no harm. She made sure of that.

Even if all they forgot was her name, she was safe. Well… safer.

She'd known that when she joined the Justice League. She knew she would be in even more danger. She'd known it wouldn't get easier. She'd known that she'd need some way to protect herself.

She wasn't stupid, she knew it was risky to not cover her face, but she was also stubborn. She'd never fought while wearing a mask, and no matter how many times the other heroes told her it was dangerous, she wouldn't change who she was. She wouldn't cover her eyes or disguise her body or change her name.

As Artemis had when she'd been on the Team, Zatanna fought under her own name. But no one ever realized it.

Zatanna was too strange a name for anyone to expect she had been given it at birth. No one would ever believe it. In her civilian life, people just called her Zee. They didn't ask what it stood for. Because, deep down, people didn't want to know. They were all, subconsciously, a little bit afraid of who they thought she might be. So, they didn't ask. They just kept quiet. They just stayed out of her way.

Then, in her hero life, when the villains stared her down and everyone tried to kill her, the bad guys didn't ask either. To them, she was just another goody two-shoes, another silly hero, another person who was willing to die for her stupid morals. They all thought she was just Zatara's little girl, trying to copy him.

People never suspected who she really was.

And people never suspected how many people she knew. They never guessed the connections she had. She had so many favors she could call in, at any moment, whenever there was an emergency. And no one would ever know.

No one thought that the half-Vietnamese best friend that drove over at least once a month to hang out with Zee, had once been the protegé of Green Arrow. They never knew that the blonde had accuracy that surpassed military snipers and agility that could shock professional dancers.

No one ever guessed that when she had to leave a party early it was because she had to go fight alongside the Justice League. That she had to defeat villains and save civilians and try to win the battle that they fought every day. Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman. She knew 'em all.

And no one ever suspected that the young man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes - the one that they saw her with so often - was really the Ex-Boy Wonder and one of the current vigilantes of Gotham City. To them, he was just the boy she kissed in the stairwell when she thought no one was around. He was just the boy who held her hand while she led him up the stairs to her apartment, smiling all the while.

People always saw what they wanted to see. She knew that for a fact.

They didn't want to take the mystery out of Zatanna, the seductive sorceress of the Justice League.

They wanted her to remain as they saw her. They wanted to see her as the magician girl who fought evil in fishnet tights and a corset. (And she wore a bow tie. Bow ties were cool.) They wanted to watch her say things backwards and take down bad guys without blinking. They didn't want to humanize her. They wanted to stare and applaud. They wanted the mask.

And if that was what kept her safe, she could tolerate it.

She knew everyone had a mask. But she also knew that no one could really see hers. And that was what kept her alive.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Notes: So, this is the third chapter. I think it turned out pretty well. I tried to show how messed up M'gann has become in season two without making her a complete monster. (I personally still think there's some good left in her somewhere.) I hope you enjoy and please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to Cartoon Network and DC Comics.**

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**Chapter 3: Miss Martian**

At first glance, no one thought she wore a mask.

They didn't understand that, out of everyone, she had the best mask of all. Even if it didn't seem like it.

Because when she was fighting crime as a hero, her eyes weren't covered. You could see her face, her hair, everything.

But at the same time, even though her skin wasn't physically covered by anything, it was green. She looked like Martian Manhunter. She looked like an alien. She looked different.

Then when the rest of the world saw her, in her everyday life, she looked normal. She looked like any other redheaded, hazel-eyed, twenty-something girl you might see on the street. There was nothing strange about her. Nothing at all. She looked just like everybody else.

Most people wouldn't guess that under that plain exterior, there was a green super hero with the strength to destroy planes, buildings, nations.

And _no one_ would have guessed that under that green skin, there was a white one. That under two different humanoid disguises, there was a monster with the power to steal the best kept secrets. The power to tear apart even the strongest minds.

She hid better than the others. She'd been hiding all her life.

She could be invisible. She could look like anyone she wanted to. She could escape into the crowd. She could disappear. She could be alone.

She didn't need to worry about the people she cared about finding out her secret identity, because they would never – _could never_ – see though every layer of her disguise. And the people closest to her, her teammates, had already seen her many sides.

She had at least three different masks.

She was Miss Martian, the powerful hero. The confident girl who took down men twice her size without batting an eyelash. The woman that struck fear into the hearts of anyone who had seen what happened to her enemies once she'd gotten a hold on them.

She was Megan Morse, the bubbly school girl. The girl she had said she was on the inside. The girl with the protective but sweet boyfriend, and the entire cheerleading squad as her group of friends. The girl who went to parties and dances and had fun without doing anything wrong. High school seemed so long ago.

She was M'gann M'orzz. A combination of both the hero and student, and yet neither. Under everything, she was always a white martian. She was always hiding. Layers upon layers of a mask. No one ever saw all the way to her soul.

No one, except for Conner.

He was the first one to see who she really was. And he hadn't cared. He'd loved her before he'd known. He'd loved her after he'd found out. He had trusted her to tell him when she was ready, and he had waited patiently.

She'd loved him even more when she found out how much he trusted her.

He wasn't shallow.

And that kiss… That _first _kiss… He'd seen past the fact that she looked like Tuppence Terror. He'd even known that under her green skin and auburn hair, she looked like a monster. And he hadn't cared. He'd loved her. Every side of her. He'd seen who she truly was, on the inside, in her mind.

_Her mind… Her powers… What she'd done to him…_

No. Too painful.

They were over now. He'd ended it. She was back to hiding.

Most of the Team thought they knew who she was. They knew that she was white. They all knew she pretended to be green. They knew she could look human. But that was all they knew.

The physical aspect. The way she looked. The way she acted. They only knew what they saw.

They didn't know her mind. They didn't know her thoughts, her fears. They didn't know the extent of her powers. The terrible things she'd done and regretted and rationalized.

Because even around those closest to her – _even in her own mind_ – she had to hide. She had to run.

The mask was so thick these days that she barely even knew herself anymore.

She just had to keep telling herself that what she was doing was right. There was always a reason why she had to keep going. There was _always_ a reason.

Because what she was doing was helping the entire planet.

Because they were her enemies not her victims.

Because the end always justifies the means.

Hiding was part of who she was. She been building up this mask since the moment she stepped onto this planet. She'd worked out every lie. She'd been scared. She was still scared. She needed an escape.

Her walls. Her lies. Her disguises. Her mask. They were all just tools.

She was still hiding. She was always hiding. From her friends, from her enemies, and most of all, she was hiding from herself.

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**Author Notes: So, what did you think? I'll try to finish Chapter Four as soon as I can. I think it's going to be about Artemis, I just have to flesh it out a bit more, which is hard when she's not on the Team anymore. I hope you enjoyed Chapter Three and please leave me a review. I'd love some feedback. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Notes: This is the fourth chapter. As promised, it's about Artemis. It was really interesting to talk about her mask and her crimefighting days even though she's not on the Team anymore. Just to clarify, this chapter is set _before_ Depths, that's why there isn't any real mention of her mission with Kaldur and all that. I hope you enjoy and please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to DC Comics and Cartoon Network. **

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**Chapter 4: Artemis**

Artemis had two masks.

One was tangible. One was more abstract.

The first was her physical mask.

Bright green. Covering her whole face without really hiding a thing.

It clung to her neck, her cheekbones, her forehead.

It didn't whiteout her eyes the way Nightwing's did. She didn't wear goggles like Wally to fill the empty spaces.

No.

Her green mask didn't hide her eyes. It framed them. It complimented the gray tones in her irises and the bright gold of her hair.

And it was practical. It didn't obscure her vision. She could still fight while wearing it. She'd gotten used to it over the years. It worked well enough.

But in truth, it was more for show than anything else.

This mask didn't hide much. It fooled a lot of people, the idiot thieves and first time gang members. The mask was the last thing they saw before she delivered a round house kick to the side of one of their faces.

But there were always exceptions. People who saw past it. The villains who'd been breaking laws and fighting heroes their entire lives. They'd seen every disguise in the book. It was hard to slip past them, but she still tried. She had to try.

Then there were the people who'd known her for years. Her sister had seen straight through her disguise. Her pathetic father could rip her mask apart with just a few words. She was never safe from them. But they could never bring themselves to kill her. It just wasn't in them.

But she needed another disguise. One that would fool the the thieves and the murders and the psychopaths. Something they wouldn't be able to see through. A mask that _no one_ could see through.

It was her real protection. It was invisible. It was hard to define. It kept her mom safe. It protected the friends she'd made at Gotham Academy and now at Stanford. And it protected Wally.

Wally was the one person who'd been able to see through her old mask. He'd taken down her walls. He'd realized that her under her tough girl facade she had issues. (Her parents were super villains. Her sister was an assassin. She'd grown up fighting for her life. She was pretty messed up inside.) And he'd stayed. He'd made her feel safe and normal. He loved her. And she loved him.

And because of that – because of everything he'd done and every reason she loved him – she _had_ to protect him. She had to protect everyone.

So, she had another mask. One more complicated than a simple piece of fabric.

Her true mask was her name.

You wouldn't look _Batman_ up in the phone book and expect to find anything.

That was how she saw it.

She fought crime with the same name that she lived her somewhat normal life.

No villain thought any hero would be stupid enough to fight under his or her _real_ name.

And maybe they were right. Maybe she _was_ stupid. Maybe she was reckless. Maybe every time the villains asked her name, she was signing it in her own blood.

But it wasn't like she was fighting crime with a name like "Melanie" or "Abigail." Then people would've gotten suspicious. They would've tracked her down. Her mom. Her friends. Everyone. They'd be in danger and she'd be dead.

No, that wouldn't have worked. Someone had to protect them and it had to be her. She didn't trust anyone else with the task of keeping them safe. They were the people she loved.

So, instead of being Bridget or Kara or Elizabeth, she'd gotten lucky. She was Artemis. The living embodiment of the goddess of the hunt. She ran from rooftop to rooftop firing arrows into the night. Burning with passion and the will to live. The will to fight. She was unstoppable. She was immortal.

But that was over now. She didn't fight anymore. At least not unless it was absolutely necessary. And if she ever did have to go back, if she ever had to fight again, she knew she would use the same masks. A piece of fabric and a word. A single word.

It was incredibly effective. Just a name. Something you couldn't touch. Something that you couldn't even see. It was a safety measure that no one else understood.

It allowed her to hide in plain sight.

But she had left the Team over a year ago, not because she didn't love it, not because she didn't want to help; but because that chapter of her life was over. Now she wanted to go to college and live with Wally and be normal. Or as normal as you can be when you spent most of your high school life as a super hero. She wanted the life she was never able to have back then.

She'd left because she _needed_ to move on.

She was done hiding. She wanted to live without the mask.

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**Author Notes: Don't forget to tell me what you thought. I have no idea who the next chapter will be about, but I guess I'll figure something out. Reviews, as always, are very much appreciated. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Notes: This chapter is about Superboy, so I hope you enjoy it. It's set after _Depths_, but before _Satisfaction_. Since there was no new episode this weekend, and we have to wait until January for DC Nation to come back, I thought it was as good a time as any to upload the next chapter. So, please enjoy and review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to Cartoon Network and DC Comics.**

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**Chapter 5: Superboy**

His mask was a symbol.

That's all it was. It was the equivalent of Batman's Bat-Signal or the Flash's lightning bolt or Wonder Woman's "W."

Most of the time, civilians didn't see the people behind those logos. They just saw the powers and the victories and the masks.

So, when Conner fought villains, all they saw was the Superboy. They saw the red "S" emblazoned on his chest. They saw the Superman shield. They saw that he looked like the big man, the first real hero. They didn't see Conner.

He was bred to be a weapon. He was born to become Superman. That's all Cadmus had ever intended. He was created as a symbol.

His enemies knew him as Superboy. The Boy of Steel. The Blue Boy Scout's Little Brat.

And he could deal with that as long as it kept him alive.

He'd always been the Superboy.

Even after he'd gotten out of Cadmus, he'd still been called Superboy, or sometimes S.B., or occasionally Supey, until he'd chosen the name Conner Kent. Until M'gann had suggested the name Conner…

But he liked his name. It belonged to him. It may not have been his idea, but he'd agreed to it. He'd approved. It was something that Cadmus hadn't forced on him. It was his choice. It was his.

And it connected him to Superman. His chosen last name, Kent, was the same as the Man of Steel's. It made their connection stronger than just shared DNA. They were a family.

And because they were family, Clark Kent had given his little brother Conner another name.

It was Kon-El, the Kryptonian equivalent of Conner.

It made him feel even better to have a third name. A name only Superman used. A name that connected him to his Kryptonian DNA. The half of his DNA that he could stand.

So, he had three names and two identities and he was relatively safe.

Even without wearing a mask or a real costume.

Because, unlike Batman or the Flash or Green Lantern, Superboy wasn't one of the famous heroes. He wasn't in the public eye every time he fought a villain. The Team was more covert than that.

And, like all heroes, he was partially safe because of disbelief.

No one would believe than mild-mannered Clark Kent was really the Man of Steel. And no one would believe that the Man of Steel had a "son."

Likewise, no one would believe that Conner Kent, the quiet, antisocial college student who used to date a cheerleader in high school, was really Superboy, a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor and a hero willing to give his life to protect the planet.

He attributed most of his survival to luck.

In his lifetime, which in truth wasn't that long, he'd had a lot of bad luck. He'd only gotten half the powers of Superman because the other half of his DNA was human. His human "father" was Lex freakin' Luthor. The cloning process used to create him had made it so he couldn't age, which sounded awesome to anyone who it hadn't happened to, but in fact it sucked. And to top it all off, his girlfriend of five years, who he really did love despite everything that had happened between them, had tried to break into his mind and change his thoughts and emotions. And, because of this, he'd broken up with her, the only girl who'd ever seen him as something more than a clone.

And that was the hardest part of it all. The fact that she'd seen past his mask.

She'd seen through all of his anger and all of his issues and insecurities. She'd seen the person he could be rather than the weapon he was designed to be. She saw him as a person. And he loved her for that.

But that was all over. And he was still, surprisingly, alive.

Because we'd gotten lucky.

Some people say that everyone gets one miracle in their life.

Conner didn't get the powers. He didn't get the perfect family. He didn't get a normal life. He didn't even get M'gann.

Instead he got to stay alive.

That was his miracle.

He ran into battle screaming and throwing punches. His face was visible and the "S" was as red as blood on his chest. But he lived. He always lived.

They'd lost Tula, and that had forced Aqualad over the edge.

They'd lost Jason, the second Robin, and that had made everyone treat the new Robin like he was made of glass.

They'd lost the first Blue Beetle which left Jaime with immense power and no one to teach him how to use it.

And they'd lost Artemis. The one who'd gotten out. The one who was safe and happy. Why had she died while Conner got to live? She had so much ahead of her. She was going to graduate college. She was living with Wally. She had been happy. And then she'd been killed.

But Conner was still around. He'd gotten out of that mission alive.

If he'd been the one who'd died, it wouldn't have mattered as much. He'd never been extremely close with anyone on the Team except for M'gann, and that bridge had been burned months ago. He didn't have the same connections with everyone that Artemis used to have. If he died, he knew there wouldn't be as many tears.

But he wasn't dead.

By some miracle he was alive.

He was safe. Because people only ever saw the symbol. He was protected by the shield he'd worn since birth.

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**Author Notes: So, what did you think? Don't forget to tell me. Reviews are, as always, very much appreciated.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author Notes: So, a few of you asked for a chapter centering around Wally, so here it is. This chapter is set after the time skip, but before Artemis "died" and became Tigress. I haven't written anything from Wally's point of view in a very long time, so I hope it's good. So, please enjoy and review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to DC Comics and Cartoon Network.**

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**Chapter 6: Kid Flash**

His mask was speed.

If he moved fast enough, no one saw his face.

He'd learned that from Barry Allen. His uncle, the Flash.

But he didn't have to worry too much. Most people barely noticed the Flash's little sidekick. They didn't even get his name right most of the time.

He was Flash Junior. Or Flash Boy. Or Speedy. Speedy? Seriously!? They weren't even trying anymore.

But that was okay. He didn't need the recognition. It kept him relatively safe to be slightly less well-known than Robin or Aqualad or whoever.

It could get annoying after a while, though.

He never got the same amount of respect as Robin or Red Arrow or Aqualad. Maybe it was because Robin had more experience, and Red Arrow and Aqualad were older. Maybe there were reasons why adults treated him like he was just a kid.

Maybe it was the name. _Kid _Flash did kind of scream _I am a child! Treat me as such!_

But Wally wasn't just some little kid anymore. He was smart. He'd only gotten his powers because he was smart! Smart enough to be able to duplicate Barry's experiment. Smart enough to duplicate said experiment in his _garage_, no less.

And he could be mature when he chose to. He just chose to have fun most of the time instead. He tried to enjoy himself, because being a hero could get pretty heavy. Missions failed, people got hurt, there were issues. Everyone dealt with that in a different way.

But being less well-known? That was no reason to act like he was worth less than the other heroes.

And it happened all the time.

If he tried to hit on a girl when any of the other guys were around, then she just kind of brushed him off. There were better heroes around. Better boys, with better powers.

It had happened with M'gann. Back when he'd thought he actually had a chance with her. He'd introduced himself, tried to be cool, tried to flirt without being _too_ obvious. But the second she'd caught sight of Superboy, she was gone – head-over-heels in love.

And that was fine. Annoying at the time, since he was the last to know, but fine now.

He didn't feel any resentment about that.

Because he knew it never would have worked. He and M'gann just wouldn't have been compatible. He understood that now.

He understood, because he'd found the person that he really needed.

He'd found his spitfire.

Artemis had noticed him. Even when they'd first met, Superboy, Robin, and Aqualad were all in the room, but she took the time to insult _him_. She'd bothered to acknowledge that he had fallen into the room like an idiot.

To anyone else that wasn't romantic at all. But for them, it was pretty good. Baywatch wasn't the _worst _thing she could have called him after all.

She'd noticed him even without the mask.

Everyone on the Team knew his secret identity. They knew when his birthday was and what city he lived in and all that stuff. They were his teammates – his friends. He didn't need to hide his face from them. He just didn't feel the need to.

He knew Nightwing was Dick Grayson. But he would never tell anyone. He understood why Nightwing still hid his face.

For him, it was a major security issue. For him, Robin, Batman. (Batgirl didn't seem to really care as much, but whatever.) The villains of Gotham had _major_ issues, especially with Arkham Asylum being right there. If any of the villains found out their secret identities… There'd be one than one dead bat found the next morning.

But they'd taken precautions. They'd be okay.

But that was why he'd left.

After what happened to Jason... And Tula... He just couldn't do it anymore.

He'd loved being a hero. He'd loved helping people and saving the day and playing the hero. But he'd given it up, so he could be safe. Relatively speaking.

He and Artemis left together. They wanted lives outside of fighting crime. They wanted to pretend, at least for a little while, that they were normal.

He wanted to act like his high school years had been filled with football games and the science fair and taking his girlfriend to the prom.

In fact, he'd only been to one high school football game and that was to stop a villain from bombing the stadium. He'd also won first place in the science fair; Artemis was very proud of his nerdiness. And when he and Artemis had gone to prom, they'd ended up going to two. One at Keystone High and one at Gotham Academy. For once, they'd been able to get through a big event without being interrupted by some sort of international crisis.

Giving up the life – _that_ life, that sort of excitement and adventure – had been hard, but not impossible.

For so many years he'd been chasing after everyone else. Trying to be good enough. Trying to live up to insane expectations and Justice League status.

But once he got to Stanford. Once he and Artemis moved in together. Once he took the mask off. All the pieces started to fit together.

He didn't need to fight crime to be happy. He didn't have to live up to any expectations. He had a girlfriend who loved him, he had great grades in school, he had friends from both the Team and his new school, and he had a life.

A life that didn't get it's safety from a mask.

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**Author Notes: So, what did you think? Don't forget to tell me. Reviews are, as always, very much appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author notes: So, here's the Aqualad chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to write this. I couldn't think of any ideas for a very long time. Just to clarify this is set before the events of _Before the Dawn_, that's why there is no mention of any of the _extremely _important things that happened in that episode. I've never really written anything from Aqualad's point of view, so I hope I did well, and feedback is appreciated. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to Cartoon Network and DC Comics.**

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**Chapter 7: Aqualad**

Aqualad's mask did not hide his face, but rather his emotions.

In Atlantis, everyone knew who Kaldur'ahm was. It was an honor to fight alongside King Orin. Kaldur was known throughout the ocean as a hero. Garth, Tula, and his other friends knew his "secret" identity. It wasn't a problem.

But on the surface world, he had to hide who he was. His identity was a danger to both himself and those around him. Hiding it though was a simple matter. All he had to do was wear a jacket to hide his tattoos. People didn't question the rest of his appearance. They didn't want to. They were always too scared.

His identity wasn't the problem. It wasn't what he had to hide to protect his family, friends, and team.

Concealing his tattoos was simple. Concealing his _life _was much harder.

He was the stoic leader. He kept his thoughts and feelings well in check for the good of the Team.

On missions, he had to remain calm and focused.

The other members of the Team did not have the same expectations placed upon them. They could make mistakes. Their actions had consequences, but if _he_ gave the wrong order, the entire mission could fail.

Kaldur did not have the luxury of failure. He had to be levelheaded. He had to give clear orders. He had to understand his teammates. He knew them almost better than they knew themselves. He knew them better then he knew _him_self.

He knew their strengths, their weaknesses. He knew who each of them fought best with. He knew which villains each of them held grudges against.

He knew all of that and more.

But to them, he was a mystery.

Around them, he acted smarter, steadier, stronger, than he really was.

When the others rushed into a fight, Aqualad kept calm.

When someone was hurt or captured, Aqualad kept the Team from falling apart.

When infighting began between members of the Team, Aqualad broke it up.

And when everyone was acting disordered, _Aqualad_ gave the commands.

It was his job. He kept everyone organized. He made it look easy.

But he was not as invincible as he let the others believe. His heart had always been and always would be vulnerable.

After Tula joined the Team, staying focused became even more difficult than it had been when she was in Atlantis. She and Garth were still together; Kaldur knew that. But she held a special place in his heart, and he couldn't let her go entirely.

First love dies slowly, whether it is unrequited or gladly returned. Tula was no exception.

She was a distraction. He knew that. She clouded his thoughts. She stole his focus. She messed with his head.

But he had to hide it. And he hid it well.

Kaldur continued to lead and the Team continued to follow.

Life continued as it always had, and always would.

Until one mission was too dangerous.

When Tula died, when she was ripped from both him and Garth, when he could only see her face in pictures and remember her life in dreams – that was when his mask finally shattered.

And that was when Nightwing came up with the plan.

For this plan, Tula's death worked to their advantage. Her death, combined with the resent revelation that his biological father was actually Black Manta, created the perfect excuse for the heroic and devoted leader of the Team to suddenly switch sides. No one would question it. He could become someone else entirely, as long as he hid his true intentions.

Kaldur was heartbroken at the lost of Tula, but he followed Nightwing's plan. With Tula gone, he needed a new distraction. She had taken his focus away from his responsibilities; this would take his focus away from her.

So, he went undercover. Gained the trust of his father. Worked his way through the ranks.

He built himself a new mask.

Now, instead of the mask of a fearless leader, his disguise was that of the scorned son who had fought alongside the heroes. He was no longer the stoic, but instead the brokenhearted. And as he proved his loyalty to the Light, he became the prodigal son who had joined his father and made a choice.

He was someone completely different in both the eyes of the enemy and the eyes of his allies.

But which side was which? Was he working with Black Manta or Nightwing? The Light or the League?

Sometimes he didn't even know, himself.

But now, even after everything he'd fought for and lost, even after everything he'd been through, he still had to hide.

His thoughts and emotions were still well guarded.

Because that mask wouldn't fall – _couldn't fall_ – Not ever.

Not if he was going to survive long enough to get back to his team.

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**Author Notes: So, what did you think? I'm planning on Chapter Eight focusing on Rocket. Haven't started writing it yet, but I have a couple of ideas. I'll try to finish it as soon as I can. Reviews are, as always, very much appreciated. :)**


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